Film Review: 12 Years a Slave
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By the time 12 Years a Slave had finished it’s running time, I found myself having to take stock of myself. The film, directed by Steve McQueen, is certainly an experience, painting a tough portrait of what happened to many Black people. Though I managed to make it through the film without much incident, I felt a small sense of disconnect, having endured through the movie but not thoroughly engaged, inspite of knowing the film was good. Luckily, there was enough artistry and ideas to keep the film bouncing around my mind and some truly astonishing performances to smooth the issues.
For those of you unfamiliar with the flick, 12 Years a Slave brings to the screen the life of Solomon Northrup, a freeman in New York who is kidnapped and then sold back into slavery where he toils for 12 years. It’s an interesting look at slavery and a bit of an illumination for just how awful and toxic this trade made the United States. Yet there’s a kind of poetry to the film, allowing for someone’s story to be brought to the screen and realized by a great team of people.
Leading the charge are a group of actors who settle into these parts and make them their own. Chiwetel Ejifior is just a rock of emotion as Solomon Northrup, carrying this entire film on his able shoulders. Ejiofer is given such a monumental task of portraying a man who knows in his heart he is free but has to survive and her more than excels here. Matching him are a cavalcade of supporting stars that enter in at different points in the story but fit right in. Michael Fassbender as the villainous plantation owner Solomon is sold to is pretty much the embodiment of evil and yet a wonder to watch. He’s never not in control, even when out of it, and his monologue with Brad Pitt is just a delight. Though these two men are solid, Sarah Paulson and Lupita N’yongo damn near walk away with the film, as the wife and slave of the plantation owner respectively. N’yongo, especially, is the heartbreaking element of the film and gives a wonderfully rich performance, despite her characters station in life.
The film is not without some issues however. Rarely do I argue for title changes with movies, but this is a perfect example of how a film sets up for an experience then goes away from that. That would be perfectly fine for any other film, but when combined with the screenplay here, the film doesn’t seem to capture the sweep of time it thinks it does. For all of the trials and tribulations Solomon goes through, the flick fails at painting itself as a man experiencing 12 years of the worst thing possible and instead just feels like a two hour version of his story. It’s a shame because the film is so sound on many other levels, but when I analyze it based on whether it meets its central point, it doesn’t necessarily pass that test.
The screenplay does manage to soar as a portrait of the harshness of slavery and the condemnation of those who practiced it without being preachy or mauldin. Here is one of the rare instances where I felt like the movie managed to create a wholistic look at just how intricate and expansive slavery was. While the film didn’t necessarily hook me, I will say that it managed to have enough nuance to keep me waiting for the next bit of the tale to unfold.
Delivering this movie is Steve McQueen, a director for whom difficult subject matter seems to fit like a glove. While McQueen doesn’t shy away from the really harsh aspects of 12 Years a Slave, this film actually didn’t feel overwhelmingly oppressive as his other two flicks. I felt McQueen and his team really elevated this film with an amazing style and grace that felt true. There was only one time in the whole film I felt that he got overindulgent and even then it felt like an earned beat of the story. He also manages to show off just how awesome of a filmmaking group he compiled with some outstanding use of sound and startling cinematography from Sean Bobbit.
Grade: ***/**** (B)
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